Latest Angel Fails to Break the Jinx

Tanya Roberts, whose lusty humour makes her the most down-to-earth Charlie's Angel, could also be the last of the angelic detectives. With rumours that the series is on the skids the American network which owns rights to the show has decided to give it a "temporary rest."

Problems with the jinxed series have spilled into Tanya's private life, with one magazine quoting her as saying she has agreed to part from her husband - a common Angels' setback. But the same magazine said Tanya came from a top Toronto family. She prefers this version of her life.

Once there was a pretty little girl who lived in an old, run-down house. She dreamed of becoming a star. So, she ran away at age 15, supported herself selling dancing lessons to "old guys" who lusted after her, then she fell in love and secretly married.

Every chance she got, she hung out in theatres, endlessly reading plays and trying for the acting breaks that never came. Finally, high on hope and low on cash, she went to Hollywood, via New York, got herself on fil, caught the eye of a powerful producer and was cast to star in one of TV's most famous programmes. This is what happened to beautiful Tanya Roberts.

But will Charlie's latest Angel live happily ever after? Will fame and fortune throw her like the other fallen Angels onto a treadmill of bad parts, broken marriages and the humiliation of diminishing audiences?

Whatever else is in doubt, one fact remains resoundingly clear - the show, producer or the situation that could dim the exuberant spirit of Tanya Roberts simply does not exist.

She speaks from the heart, laying sentences like bricks: "I will be married forever. I am a competent actress who is going to be really great."

Tanya grew up on the streets of the Bronx, New York, and at 15 moved with her family to Toronto, Canada. At an age when most girls are looking forward to school dances and friendship rings, Tanya dropped out of school, set up house, got the studio dancing job and secretly married another school drop-out. The stormy marriage lasted seven months and was a relationship which Tanya describes as turning from passionate love to intense hatred.

Tanya's striking looks won her offers for commercials - selling everything from sunglasses to aspirin. They also attracted Barry Roberts, psychologist, now turned Hollywood script writer, the next man that Tanya would marry.

Tanya shrugs off charges that Charlie's Angels requires a minimum of acting ability, that it is really light-weight and that is has a history of landing otherwise promising careers in the dumps.

"This," she says flatly, "is the best thing that ever happened to me. I love to work. And I really like the show. Look at the exposure! This, after all, is showbusiness. You must be seen and recognized. I expect to be offered the type of work that I'll need to build a solid career on as a direct result of my association with Charlie's Angels."

She is reminded that other Angels had the same career plan but fell flat on their cute little behinds. Farrah Fawcett's work now attracts an audience that would have constituted a small cocktail gathering when she was an Angel. Kate Jackson is doing even less and Shelley Hack, who Tanya replaces, has sunk, virtually without trace.

In the romance department Angels have suffered even more. Farrah, Cheryl, Kate and Jaclyn have all seen the breakdown of their marriages - although Cheryl has given wedded bliss another try, this time with tall, handsome musician Brian Russell.

When Tanya dreamed of becoming a star, she did not come to Hollywood for the glamour - and certainly not to watch her marriage dissolve. She came for the real gold - the heady heights of success.

She says: "I don't care if I'm not driving a Rolls Royce. I love my Jeep. But I'm sure if I want a Rolls in the next couple of years, I'll be able to get one."

"I'm going to make it big in showbiz. Just like I always knew I would."

BACKGROUND CHECK

by Colin Dangaard
The Australian Women's Weekly
April 15, 1981

"This is the best thing that ever happened to me. I love to work. And I really like the show. Look at the exposure! This, after all, is showbusiness. You must be seen and recognized. I expect to be offered the type of work that I'll need to build a solid career on as a direct result of my association with Charlie's Angels."

She did all right for herself, too! She’s a tough and secure lady! This is that time period when the Angels were experiencing the backlash from their CA fame, but within a few years all this negativity turned around for all of them. Then it came around again and turned around again. lol

“But will Charlie’s latest Angel live happily ever after? Will fame and fortune throw her like the other fallen Angels onto a treadmill of bad parts, broken marriages and the humiliation of diminishing audiences?”
Ouch! Those Aussies are brutal critics, aren’t they? Almost sounds like they had an agenda here. Who could seriously hate on Farrah, Kate, and Shelley this much, not to mention that this is an extreme exaggeration. Of course, they had no way of knowing about the former Angels post-1981 successes, but still…Rowrrr!!!

she was the worst of the lot… i don’t think anyone was really expecting anything from her! even her soft-porn projects tanked… poor girl, who ever gave her the idea she could be a star?

Anthonydeutsch

I agree, she and her husband were starving when they decided to come to hollywood because he was a failed writer who actually never wrote anything and she hadn’t done anythig either in new york and this is why Nolan Miller was floored when her husband, shamless and as desperate as he, they were had her strip totally nude in front on him to help land the part proclaiming my wife has a beautiful body also it should be mentioned that Nolan also observed and said they were both extremely high on something. Today we all know that Tanya was a cocaine addicted party girl, that’s why she had to leave that 70’s show. Very little class and modesty.

ealan14

I think Tanya Roberts gets a bad rap for her part on CA.. Its true, she wasn’t a great actress, but Charlies Angels was never a great show- the writing was always shoddy, the scripts predictable and dull. Like most Aaron spelling shows, CA was heavy on glamour and style, but light on substance. The show took an enormous hit when they lost Kate Jackson and by 1981, it was on its last legs, the other stars were all visibly bored and they wanted out. Everyone- including Tanya- knew that the show wasn’t going past the 5th season. I really liked Tiffany and wish she’d gotten another year, but I have to say Julie brought a new dynamic to the team- she was younger, less experienced and much more impulsive than the other more seasoned detectives. Shehad an enthusiasm that the Kelly and Kris had lost sometime during Season 2. And she was tough! Julie was the Alley Cat from the original inspiration for the show. Through the other seasons, the girls had always been friends and co-workers, but now they were also mentors to the new kid. And she was so not slutty. For all her bikinis and tight sweaters, Julie wasn’t wearing anything that Kris had already worn over the years. And Kris wore a whole lot of teeny bikini’s over her 4 years on the show.

Plus I know Tanya Robers had drug and alcohol issues over the years, but I don’t think that’s why she left That 70’s Show (she continued to make guest appearances until the end of the series). I believe she left to be a full time caregiver to her husband who was left partially paralyzed from encephalitis. At the time of his death, they’d been married for nearly 33 years (even though they didn’t believe in celebrating anniversaries). Whatever else she’d been doing, she certainly took her marriage seriously.

Anthonydeutsch

your first paragraph states that she wasn’t a great actress and that was a huge factor, even the new guest writers brought on in season four couldn’t do much for her because of it,Tanya knew nothing she wasn’t in the loop,glamour,she had none but i will give her alot of credit because she really wanted to succeed and as she said she was going to really try and bust her azz, the whole plan after Kate left was to get through the five year contract and take the show to syndication where hundreds of millions waited. You need to check out the facts, season four was beginning to stabilize after mid season and actually climbed back into the top twenty finishing at #17,it took its big nose dive with Tanya and that is fact, now yes i think both Shelley and Tanya were saddled with and burdened with uninspired co-stars and a tremendous responsibility to try and save a show that noone else cared about, everybody wanted to embark on solo careers, you are entitled to your opinions as we all are but if you view the polls you can’t help but notice what the fanbase thinks and it is counter to what you think.

Heather

I agree. Julie will never be one of my favorite Angels, but there are certain things about her that I like. She did try hard, she did want to make something of herself, and she did bring a new enthusiasm and energy to the show. No, she wasn’t the best actress (at all) but she tried. And she had to try hard, what with the show being what it was at this point. her co-workers didn’t care at all, the viewers didn’t care about the show anymore, so this would have been a bad season with or without Tanya.

Tony Romeo

While I think Tanya may have had some addiction issues, she left 70s Show because her husband was dying at the time.